


Neighbors

by The_Dark_Lady



Category: Corpse Husband - Fandom
Genre: Faceless, Gaming, Neighbors, Other, Platonic Relationships, Wholesome, Writer, YouTube, corpse, platonic, platonic cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27026944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dark_Lady/pseuds/The_Dark_Lady
Summary: This is a PLATONIC Corpse Husband Fit because I am not comfortable with writing romantic relationships between readers and real people. This came to fruition because I want nothing more than to hug Corpse and tell him how proud I am of him and that he is doing amazing. Really, it's nothing more than a written form of my maladaptive daydreaming so have fun.The main character has no mentioned characteristics other than being shorter than Corpse so any gender can read this comfortably.
Relationships: Corpse Husband/Reader
Comments: 42
Kudos: 766





	1. Chapter 1

I worked as an anonymous writer. I didn't make as much as J. K. Rowling, but it was enough for me to retire any time I wanted to. I always wrote anonymously because I knew my very religious family would be less than pleased to see my rather steamy works. They knew I was a writer, but I never told them what I wrote, and they didn't ask. We were understood that it was better to be ignorant in this situation. All of the friends I still stayed in touch with were out of state and always busy so I spent most of my days holed up in my apartment watching tv or reading until inspiration struck, and I got stuck in front of my laptop for three days.

Any and all emotional connection I experienced on a day to day basis was through a screen or a page, and I was ok with that. 

And then someone moved in next door.

Before my new neighbor moved in a spoiled brat had lived next to me who only left because mommy visited and said the apartment was too small for her little girl. Needless to say I had only interacted with her once.

My new neighbor, however, was a bit of a mystery. He moved in one day and almost never left. All I ever saw of him was a mop of curly dark hair and black clothes. When I did see him clearly for the first time it was because we happened to be leaving for the grocery store at the same time. When we saw each other we both awkwardly froze with wide eyes. He was wearing a black mask and his usual all black attire. At that moment, there was a mutual understanding that neither of us knew how to deal with strangers so we locked our doors behind us and went our separate ways. 

I expected that to be the extent of our interactions. That is, until I needed a tall person.  
Being vertically challenged was rarely an issue for me as I often found ways around this obstacle with chairs or other climbing devices. Today, however, the ridiculously high ceilings of my luxury apartment were just too far out of reach for me to change my damn lightbulb that had been flickering and driving me mad for at least a month. I knew I only had one option. I was a squirrel, and I needed a tree. 

So, with my anxiety through the roof, I dreadingly trudged to my neighbor’s front door. It took me a bit more than five minutes to actually knock lightly on the door. When there was no response I almost sighed in relief and turned to return to my apartment in delighted defeat before my heart stopped at the click of a latch behind me. I spun back around like a deer caught in headlights. 

We stared at each other for a moment before he cleared his throat, “Hello?”

Lord have mercy I am about to bust, I thought to myself as I heard his voice for the first time. I felt my knees visibly buckle at the deep bass, and I could feel my eyes turn into ‘fuck me’ eyes.

In mortification I spluttered as I tried to come up with the words to explain why I had bothered him. 

“I’m sorry! I- uh- I meant to- I came- damnit, I needed to ask you to help me!” I stuttered hopelessly. I had never experienced horny social anxiety before, and I was failing to hide it.

He looked mildly confused, “Uh, sure. What do you need help with?”

It’d be great if you could stop talking so I can collect myself, I thought.

“Um, I am vertically challenged, and I need a tree to help me change a lightbulb.”

I almost smacked myself in humiliation. I was shocked when he nodded in understanding, “Sure.”

“It’s ok if you’re busy! It’s really not that important!” I rushed, now realizing I may have been interrupting his day.

“No, it’s ok. I wasn’t doing anything anyway,” he said lowly as he played with his hands.

“Oh, well… ok then,” I mumbled.

We stood awkwardly for a moment before I realized I was supposed to take the lead, “Oh! Sorry! I zoned out; follow me!”

Dammit why do I sound so bossy, I inwardly wailed.

I unlocked my door, and he shuffled in behind me. We walked to my office where there was a chair with multiple large books stacked on top of it giving testament to my failed attempt at doing the job myself.

I didn’t realize I was glaring at the chair until I heard a light chuckle beside me. My face flushed as I stared at the floor. He moved closer to the chair and removed the books before picking a new lightbulb from the box on the floor. He climbed up on the chair and easily switched out the old for the new before climbing down. Like the awkward squirrel I was, I sat on the couch and picked at my nails as I looked anywhere but at him.

“Thank you!” I blurted. 

“No problem! Uh- I’ll get out of your hair- Oh fuck,” he groaned, and I thanked every etheral being I knew of that I was already seated, but my poor hands suffered from the digging of my nails as I tried to contain my rampant wonton mind.

“I just realized I locked myself out of my apartment,” he rubbed the back of his neck. I quickly snapped myself out of my trance to process what he just said.

“I’m so sorry! Let me text the landlord!” I pulled out my phone and let the very nice landlady know that her newest tenant had accidentally locked himself out.

He chuckled nervously, “It’s not your fault. I should have known better. Thank you for letting her know.”

“It’s no problem-” I rambled and then smacked myself.

“What?” his brow furrowed.

“It’s tuesday night. It’s bingo night,” I sighed.

He blinked at me, still confused.

“She’s not gonna get back until one am. And when she does get back she’ll be too blacked out drunk to know which key is which,” I explained and sighed heavily.

“Oh shit,” he groaned again.

He really needed to stop that for my personal health. 

“Do you have anyone you can stay with tonight?” I asked, praying for a miracle.

He shook his head.

Fuck me, I thought.

“Well, since it’s my fault you’re in this mess you can stay over. I don’t have an extra bed, but the couch is really comfy I promise, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable-”

“Oh no, I couldn’t do that! I don’t wanna intrude your space like that-”

“No really, it’s ok, but if you’re uncomfortable I don’t wanna pressure you-”

“No, don’t worry nothing about you makes me uncomfortable- wait dammit this isn’t coming out right!” We both stared at the ground.

“Fuck social snxiety,” I groaned and slammed my head into the back of the couch. 

“Fuck social anxiety,” he agreed with a sigh.

It was silent for a moment as we gave ourselves some time to get it together. 

With all the courage I could muster I looked up at him, “It’s about dinner time, and I haven’t eaten yet today. Are you allergic to anything?”

Not long after we were seated at my island digging into hot pockets and an array of random food from my pantry. We ate in silence. He wasn’t as tense as before, but I was impossibly more tense because I had just realized that I had invited a strange man that I’d never met before to stay the night in my apartment. How could I have been so stupid? I was lured into the illusion of being a good samaritan because I had accidentally attributed to him being locked out. People like me don’t have the luxury of being worried about being robbed in the middle of the night. This man was clearly much larger and stronger than I, and I had told him he could sleep in my house. Stupid.

He must have realized how tense I was because he started apologizing profusely, “I’m sorry, I know this can’t be comfortable for you. I can go down to the lobby and sleep on one of the couches there-”

I shook my head and tried to knock some sense back into myself, “No. It’s fine, I already said you could stay here, and I don’t back out on promises. Besides, I have at least three knives on me right now and plenty more hidden throughout the house. I think I can handle myself if you try anything.”

I heard him choke on his hot pocket.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, “This is where we should start talking about small talk or some shit, I think.”

He nodded, “Yeah, probably.”

“Well I just tried to say something, and it ended up coming off as a threat so maybe you try this time?”

He giggled, “Yeah, um… give me a sec” he thought for a moment, “You like books?”

I let out a small laugh, “Yeah, I do. How did you know?”

“The room was basically a library,” he explained, and I realized I had just let a complete stranger into my office containing very raunchy books many of which had been written by me. Well that was stupid. I decided to move on.

“What about you? What are your hobbies?”

“Um, I usually play video games with my friends when I can. Nothing exciting.”

I nodded.

I glanced at the clock as I started to clear our paper plates, “Well, it’s pretty early for my standards. I have about four hours to kill before bed. Movie?”

He smiled, “Sure.”

“Cool. What genre do you like?” Please not horror.

“I’m usually a horror kind of guy,” he said almost cautiously.

I hummed, “Please tell me you’re ok if I tell you I one thousand percent cannot do horror.”

“Of course not! I get it. In all honesty I should probably lay off the horror a little bit. So what do you like?”

“What about Ready Player One?”

And so we spent the night a comically far distance apart on the couch until it was time for bed, and I left him with a spare toothbrush and toothpaste with all the extra pillows and blankets in the house - which was an absurd amount.

I sighed in relief when I was finally slumped against the safety of my locked bedroom door.

Great job, I patted myself on the back, you were a good person, and you didn’t even let him know that you know who he is. 

Over the next few weeks, we met a few different times like when I had made too much spaghetti to eat alone, or when he popped in to borrow tinfoil. Soon enough, I was comfortable around him and found myself calling him my friend. And so far we had successfully managed to avoid talking about either of our work lives.

So when I heard a loud bang against our shared wall at midnight, I decided to go over to check on him. When he opened his door, he gave me an innocent, sheepish smile. 

“Hi!” 

“Hello…” I respond with a raised brow, “How are you?”

“Great! I’m doing great!” he said a bit too quickly.

“Uh huh,” I gave him a deadpan look, “So that bang I heard against my wall was just my paranoia?”

“Yes.”

We stared at each other for a minute before he sighed and looked down, “I can’t open the fucking tinfoil.”

I hummed in understanding, “Do you want help?”

“Yes please.”

Damn his voice. I still wasn’t used to it.

He moved aside to let me in, and I moved to where the tinfoil lied on the floor next to the wall. I picked it up, noticing that it was very beat up. I laughed and looked up at him, “Did it give you a hard time?” I teased. 

“Damn right it did!” I swear if he tried any harder he’d have been pouting. 

Maintaining eye contact with him I pulled a knife out of my pocket, flipped it open, and carefully ran it down the foil.

He glared at me playfully before snatching it away from me and taking it back to the kitchen, “Show off.”

“You’re welcome!” I grinned, “So is this why you keep borrowing my tinfoil?”

“Of course not,” he responded sarcastically, “Would you like any mozzarella sticks?”

“Yes, two please. Also, why the hell are you cooking at 12:30 in the morning?”

He shrugged, “Haven’t gotten a chance to eat yet.”

Makes sense, I thought. I wasn’t gonna say it, but I knew it was because he probably just got done streaming or editing. Personally I had been editing all day too, only I was editing something completely different. 

While he was getting out the frozen mozzarella sticks, I decided to pull up tik tok, completely forgetting to turn down my volume. 

On a normal day, I would have been worried that a Yagami Yato or Professor Cal audio would pop up. But no. God chose that exact moment to give me a big ‘fuck you.’

He froze as he heard the intro, but my dubass didn’t recognize the song until after “choke me like you hate me.”

With the skill of a student who had accidentally opened their laptop to hentai in the middle of class I paused the video and turned down my volume to nothing. I cooly played it off like nothing had happened, but the damage was done. 

I was completely nonchalant until he slowly turned around to face me. Then I knew I fucked up. His face should have been angry, but it was so much worse. He looked terrified. 

“Sorry,” I nervously chuckled as my mind scrambled for excuses, “I didn’t expect that to be the first thing up on my for you page...”

He didn’t relax in the least, “Right.”

With shaking hands he returned to putting everything together. I watched him with concern and shot up when he tried to pick up the pan only to drop it back on the counter.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’ve got it. You go sit down, yeah?” I put a trembling hand on his shoulder, and he nodded before moving to sit where I had. He refused to look at me. 

After the timer was set and the pan was in the oven, I finally went to sit in the seat next to him. Both of us played with our fingers. 

I had absolutely no idea how to fix the situation. But I gave it a dumbass try anyway.

“Sorry about that,” I repeated, “That song keeps popping up on my feed. It’s a great song, but I can’t listen to it all the way through at once,” I laughed awkwardly, “I get too overwhelmed. I should look into the artist’s other music-”

“You’re a bad liar.”

I stared at my hands in my lap, “I’m not usually. I guess you’re just playing too much Among Us.”

He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, “You watch those too?”

I shook my head, “No! I played with you just yesterday!” I was almost indignant that he’d forgotten.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered, “Well then, how long have you known?”

I scoffed, “The first time I heard your voice when you changed my lightbulb. I’ve liked your stuff for a while now; I don’t really know how long, but I knew enough to know you would be really uncomfortable if I recognized you. I just didn’t want to make you worried about it.”

“Damn,” he groaned, “Well I guess it’s not your fault then. You were right. I probably would have had a panic attack on the spot because I didn’t even have a fucking mask on.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Stop apologizing. You did nothing wrong. I would like to say that I would have preferred if you told me sooner, but I also know it wouldn’t have ended well,” he seemed a lot less tense now. 

“You’re taking this really well...” I said slowly.

“Well I mean, it’s you,” he shrugged like it was that simple, meanwhile my eyes bulged out of my head, “Besides, I know you’re an anonymous erotica writer so I guess we’re even.”

I stopped breathing for a second before my head whipped around to look at him indignantly, “Dude!”

“What!? It’s not like you really tried to hide it from me! Your office is an actual library lined with smutty books. The fuck did you expect me to think?” he laughed as I started banging my head on the table. 

I started laughing with him, and soon we were rolling on the floor mocking the irony of the situation.

When it died down we just laid there, grinning stupidly and staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, sweetheart?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad I found you. And I do mean you, not Corpse. Of course, I’m also happy I found Corpse because he makes fire music-”

His laugh cut me off, “I’m glad I found you too, shorty.”


	2. Hugs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the support! Let me know if you guys have any ideas for what else I should do with this story!

Our relationship was a safe space for me. Our bond had only deepened when we recognized our similarities so now we were two peas in a pod. 

We did agree that unless the other specifically invited you to make a comment or opinion we were not to discuss our work lives with each other. Every once in a while he would tease me about how I still couldn’t get over his voice, and I would bite back with the fact that if his songs weren’t so damn suggestive I would be better composed, but that was about it. This rule was established when he had accidentally let slip that he had read one of my short stories. After assuring my mortified self that he had enjoyed my work, he promised not to mention it first again.

Usually when we spent time together we were quiet - just enjoying silent company, and when we weren’t we were the loudest motherfuckers in the building. One night we had gotten so drunk that Nancy the lovely landlady had to bang on the door and tell us to shut the fuck up or she wouldn’t be giving us her peanut butter fudge come Christmas. After informing him how dire the situation really was, we had sworn to be diligent neighbors from then on. That was all I remembered from that night.

There were a lot of unspoken agreements between us. We just kind of understood each other most of the time. For instance, we always asked before we hugged or had any kind of physical contact and were comfortable to say no. We could go for a while without seeing each other but always texted to check in on the two week mark. Whenever I made too much food I invited him over. We always watched movies at his place because he had the best sound system. We painted nails on wednesdays and would decide who was painting them based on whose hands were shaking the least. We could spend every waking moment together one week and then all but ghost each other the next week because we knew we each needed alone time. 

And we were always each other’s first responder. Be it tinfoil or an anxiety attack, we texted each other before anyone else.

So when I had to leave town for a weekend to go meet with my friends from out of state, I obviously let him know before I left. Neither of us thought it would be a problem seeing as we had gone far longer without seeing each other since we’d met.

I was supposed to be there for four days, and it was only night two when he texted me. I assumed it would be a meme or something, but instead it was a voice message. I quickly excused myself to go to my room so that I could listen in privacy. All it was was him asking how it was going with my friends. Weird, I thought, but not problematic. 

‘Do you want me to text or voice record?’ I texted back.

‘Voice record.’

I shrugged, “Well, so far everything’s great. It’s really good to see everyone, and I only had to knock out three creeps at the bar last night, so I deem that successful. It’s a lot of social interaction, though. I’m constantly having to hide in my room or the bathroom.”

There was only thirty seconds before he sent another recording, “Can you facetime?”

My eyebrows rose a bit at that. Usually we preferred texting and he often used voice recording, but we never facetimed as it wasn’t something he was comfortable with, and we never called because I’m sure he knew that his voice right in my ear wasn’t something I could handle for more than a few minutes.

I instantly started facetime, and he picked up after only three rings. Unsurprisingly the screen was black; I assumed he had it on the front camera laying screen up.

“Hey, sweetheart,” I said with a smile, “What’s up?”

“Is it ok if I scream?”

“Yes, go ahead, honey.”

“FUCK!” his voice almost ruptured my eardrums. There was a second of silence before he chuckled, “I really want a hug...”

My brows furrowed in concern, “Do you want to talk about it?”

He sighed, “Not really… not yet.”

“That’s ok,” I nodded, “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing,” he said quietly, “I don’t know. Honestly, I just needed to be with someone.”

“I’m so sorry I’m not there to give you that hug,” I smiled sadly. My chest was literally aching from not being able to give him at that very moment. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said in that fake ok voice that was just a little bit too high.

“Hmm,” I hummed as I wracked my brain for something I could do to make him feel better, “Do you wanna maybe play some among us?”

“God no,” he said a little too quickly, “Can we just... stay on the call? We don’t have to talk or anything. I just need someone with me.”

I nodded and gave what I hoped was a reassuring smile, “Of course, sweetheart.”

So I pulled up my computer and started catching up on some fanfictions and emails. And so for the next two hours we sat together in silence. Every once in a while we would send each other memes or tik toks, but in the end I think we both ended up feeling a little better. Seeing as it had been midnight when the call started, I ended up falling asleep not long after the two hour mark, and when I woke up the next day, I looked at my phone to see that my phone had died which was probably what ended the call.

I plugged it in and went to shower to wake myself up before I went back to the common area of the rented cabin to see my friends. It was a relatively short shower, but when I checked my phone again I already had eight messages from him sent at varying times. 

This bitch didn’t sleep a wink, I thought with both irritation and exponentially rising concern. I knew his sleep schedule was fucked. Everyone knew that, but usually he got some kind of rest between five am and noon. Something was not right. I texted him back, but he stopped responding after a few texts. I hoped it was because he was sleeping but I knew better.

As luck would have it, both of my friends ended up needing to leave early - one for a family emergency and the other because they had to fly back before the approaching storm hit. In under thirty minutes I was packed and on the road back home. The cabin was only about a three hour drive from home, so I was able to get there before dinner. 

I didn’t even drop my stuff off at my apartment before I was knocking on his door. He took a bit longer than usual - probably because he didn’t think it was me - but eventually the door cracked open, and his brow furrowed as he saw me. 

“You’re not supposed to be here,” was all he got out before I pushed open the door to set my bags down.

“Can I hug you?” I panted, still out of breath from running down the hall.

And then I couldn’t see anything but the mass of black cloth shoved into my face. His arms trembled as they wrapped themselves securely around me, and his head buried into my neck. He didn’t cry. Crying was something we had both long forgotten how to do, but I felt his chest shake with every breath as if he had already been crying for a long time. 

I let one hand rub circles on his back while the other played with his hair, “I’m right here, sweetheart. You’re ok. You’re safe.”

Slowly we sank to the floor still clutching each other tightly. I couldn’t do anything but continue doing what I was doing. 

I have no idea how long we stayed that way, but it was dark outside when he finally took his head out of the crook of my neck.

“I’m sorry-” he started.

“Shut the fuck up. Let me take care of you,” I shushed him and moved my hand from rubbing his back to rubbing his shoulder, “Do you want to talk about it?”

He nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it later?”

He nodded again.

“Ok then. You want to order take out?”

“Yes please,” he sighed calmly, “But...”

“Yes?”

“Can I stay at your place?”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

So an hour later, we were eating our favorite chinese takeout on my couch watching Thor Ragnorok for the third time that month. He had refused to let me stray further than a foot away from him since I got back unless it was to go to the bathroom, and even then I was fairly certain he stayed right outside the door. As soon as he had finished his food he had his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close enough for me to practically be in his lap, but I didn’t mind. He felt better by being taken care of, and I felt better by taking care of him. We were essentially kindred spirits at that point. 

He had terrible dark circles under his eyes suggesting that the situation had been bad at least a day before he called me. His hands still couldn’t stop shaking from lack of sleep and food.

After the movie was over, we got ready for bed and turned on Spider Man Homecoming on the tv in my room. Somehow we ended up spooning with him obviously being the little spoon. 

“It was so fucking stupid,” he suddenly groaned.

“Hm?”

“Nothing happened. No one died. My face didn’t get leaked. I didn’t fuck up… My brain was just like ‘hey dumbass you’re sad now,’ and then the next day it said ‘you thought you could get away with just moping around? Well tough shit, bitch, now you’re gonna have a panic attack for the next two days,” he angrily ranted.

“I’m sorry,” I nuzzled my face into his back, “I wish I could’ve come back sooner. Thankfully everyone else went home early too so I didn’t have to make up an excuse.”

“Thank you… for being with me,” he said with a yawn.

“No problem. That’s my job anyways.”

It was silent for a while, and I thought he was finally asleep, but suddenly he spoke up, “New level of friendship unlocked.”

“What?” I asked sleepily.

“Separation anxiety.”

“Hell yeah!” I chuckled.

“Let’s fucking go,” he laughed and held up a hand for me to high five.


End file.
